Microsoft Announces Windows Mobile 6

Microsoft unexpectedly announced Windows Mobile 6, the new operating system for handheld devices, last night in advance of next week's 3GSM trade show in Barcelona.

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Microsoft unexpectedly announced Windows Mobile 6, the new operating system for handheld devices, last night in advance of next week's 3GSM trade show in Barcelona.

Windows Mobile is the operating system found on the popular Motorola Q, T-Mobile Dash, Samsung Blackjack, T-Mobile MDA, and many other devices. In the US, it's in a continual battle with Palm OS and Blackberry for mobile leadership. Overseas, it's dwarfed by Symbian, a European operating system that's little used on this side of the Atlantic.

More an accumulation of new features than a ground-up rewrite of the operating system, Windows Mobile 6 lets owners of devices without touchscreens (such as the Motorola Q) edit Microsoft Office documents for the first time, and offers tight integration with both Windows Live and Microsoft Exchange 2007 servers. The system's PIM, Web browser, and other applications have all received upgrades. The core of the operating system, based on Windows CE 5.0, remains the same, however.

Windows Mobile 6 will appear within the next few months on new smart phones, including Verizon's Samsung SCH-i760, which was demonstrated at CES in January. While it's theoretically possible to upgrade some existing phones to the new OS, that's up to each additional manufacturer and carrier, Microsoft said.

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed...
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